Many attempts have been made to collect food and grease residues produced while grilling or charbroiling meat and other foods. The most widely used method is to collect the residues below the food in a collection tray or other receptacle which must be emptied periodically. In all types of grillers this operation is inconvenient and time consuming, and on barbecue grillers the collection tray presents a serious risk of fire. The practice of disposing of a proportion of cooking residues produced in a barbecue griller by the use of a so-called "volcanic rock" bed has provided a partial answer to the problem of grease disposal. By this method a layer of porous rock material is placed on a mesh tray located below the cooking surface with the result that some of the residues are burnt. This practice still requires the use of a grease collection tray which, because it is often exposed to considerable reflected heat from the rocks above offers increased risks of fire in addition to the inconvenience of disposal and cleaning.